Erulisse Dances

We Are Not Alone

Jeb glanced up as he walked towards the entryway to the medium-sized office building. Unlike the glass and steel behemoths of the downtown area, the smaller, five-story building in the suburbs was unpretentious, the letters C R A I C above the door in red metal. It had the appearance of a software development company or an insurance company. Few people knew what CRAIC stood for, and fewer still would have believed him if he told them what he did for a living.

After passing through a metal detector screening and several other, more sophisticated scanning devices, he entered the central core of the building, moving toward the bank of elevators. "I should take the stairs," he thought, glancing towards the staircase on his left and knowing that Karen would ask if had exercised when he returned home for dinner that night. He sighed, as he walked to the elevators and pushed the call button. He wasn't in the mood for the stairs today - or any day if he was being honest with himself. He glanced down at his stomach, a definite paunch hanging over his belt. 'Taking three flights of stairs won't make much of a dent in my belly,' he thought as he entered the elevator, pushing the button to close the doors.

Swiping his key card through the reader in the blank wall ahead of him, he entered the laboratory when the hidden doorway opened. The Center for Researching Astronomical and Inter-galactic Communications was one of those secret projects that had started because of the military's determination to be prepared if humankind was not alone in the galaxy. A small, involuntary "snort" came from him as the door retracted allowing him entry. Of course, humanity wasn't the only intelligent life form in the galaxy. Humanity, however, tended to be self-centered; considering themselves to be the top of the food chain, the intelligence chain, and the evolutionary chain. He knew better.

He strapped on his translator mechanism as he walked through the sanitizing lights and entered a larger room. An involuntary smile crossed his face as he viewed familiar entities working alongside other humans. In the corner was “Blue”. Its' actual name was lengthy and it had given permission to use its' nickname during work hours. Its' nickname was based on its' exterior coloring; its’ skin, if it could be called that, was pebbled and dappled in a wide color spectrum, with blue being the predominant color. Blue had told him that his coloring changed during mating season, but that had not happened yet in the five years they had been working together.

Ash-wok was “manning” the bank of central screens, deep in conversation with an entity similar in appearance to an Ewok from the classic Star Wars film. His co-worker, originally from a planet in the Arcturus system, was best qualified to speak directly with the bear-like creature appearing on the main screen. Their conversation was ranging from ultrasound to deep bass, with tone as important as any words.

To his left, Terry was in one of the glassed-in interview rooms with a new arrival. Her translation unit was active as she reviewed the academic credentials of a possible new member of the team. The candidate, a bipedal, sleek, fish-like creature with four “arms”, was applying for interdimensional travel. A few weeks earlier, a new race had reached out to the team. However, they were located in a different dimension – one that humans could not enter safely. Other galactic races were able to survive in some of the alternate dimensions, and CRAIC dearly wanted to help broker an intergalactic, interdimensional information exchange system. Terry's candidate might be able to assist in this endeavor.

Jeb turned around as a soft voice spoke from behind him. “Your beverage, sir”, a high-pitched voice said. Turning around he saw a winged creature three feet tall with antennae and huge eyes holding his coffee out to him. “Oh, thank you so much, Tl’tl. I’ll take it into my office, OK?” The wings changed color from the yellow tint of neutrality to the blue tint of happiness as it handed the coffee cup to him. He took a small sip. “Perfect as always. Thank you.” He nodded his happiness with the coffee as he turned and headed to his office. “Archer, in my office please for debriefing,” he said over his shoulder as he opened the door to his cubicle.

He looked around him with satisfaction. How many people on Earth dreamed of “little green men”? Hundreds of thousands he suspected. Yet here he was one of the few who knew that the “little green men” not only actually existed, but he also had the good fortune to interact with them every day. Life was good! He took a deep sniff of the brewed coffee and settled down for his normally unpredictable day with a broad smile on his face.